Judge’s gift-giving attempt leads to sex-trafficking sentence being tossed

In Brief

• Boston federal judge Margaret R. Guzman attempted to give a gift to victim.
• 18-year sentences of Moises and Kiersten Soto vacated.
• Prosecutors agree to resentencing but oppose new trial.
• New trial hearing set before Judge Myong J. Joun on Sept. 15.

A Boston federal judge recently vacated the 18-year sentences of a Worcester couple convicted of sex trafficking following revelations the Worcester trial judge tried to give a gift to the victim at sentencing.

Moises and Kiersten Soto have not been released, but have been returned to Massachusetts for detention pending a hearing on a new trial, records show.

The Sotos were convicted of trafficking a woman across New England following a six-day jury trial in September overseen by Worcester’s federal judge, Margaret R. Guzman.

Prosecutors alleged the victim, who testified at trial, was badly beaten and abused while being trafficked by the couple into prostitution from February to May 2022.

Guzman, at a January hearing in which she imposed the 18-year sentence, had staffers pass prosecutors an envelope addressed to the victim, who was not present, during a break in the proceedings, without the knowledge of the defense.

Prosecutors later told the defense they opened the envelope after the hearing had concluded to find a bracelet and several seashells along with a card with a supportive, handwritten note from Guzman.

The defense, after the prosecution’s disclosure, requested the Sotos’ sentences be vacated and that they be granted a new trial.

Guzman’s gift — which an expert said raised serious questions about impartiality — was, the defense argues, evidence of a bias they claim infected her trial rulings.

Prosecutors, while agreeing the couple should be resentenced, have argued against a new trial, saying Guzman’s rulings were reasonable and the convictions should stand.

They’ve argued Guzman was trying to pass along sentiment to the victim that she could have stated verbally had the victim been present at sentencing and that other convictions have stood despite similar or more severe accusations of impropriety by judges.

Prosecutors also argue the Sotos won’t be able to prove they’d likely prevail at a new trial — a legal standard they’ve said must be met for such a severe remedy.

Lawyers for the Sotos have argued they do meet such a bar, alleging that Guzman routinely treated the Sotos and their lawyers unfairly, both in her legal rulings and her tone.

The lawyers alleged, among other things, that Guzman denied them a request to explore whether the victim was intoxicated while testifying, didn’t let them properly inquire about a text message they alleged indicated the victim fabricated her allegations, and held them to different standards than prosecutors.

The attempt to give the victim the card and gift, the lawyers argued, “undermines confidence in the neutrality of the tribunal that controlled what the jury was permitted to hear about” the victim and requires a new trial.

The two sides are set for oral argument on the new trial Sept. 15 in front of Boston federal judge Myong J. Joun, who, court records show, ordered the sentences vacated July 20.